It Didn't Have To Be This Way
by wolfiecaw
Summary: Touka Kirishima, a ghoul, and Yoriko Kosaka, a human. They loved each other, had kids together, everything was perfect until Touka was murdered. In trying to move on, Yoriko meets Takeomi. (set sometime in the future and most likely in an AU)


**Touka Is Dead** **  
**  
 _I remember how happy I was when Arata and Ryouko were born. Touka was next to me, smiling, as we held the two in our arms. They were miracles. Everything was perfect, Touka was here, we'd begun a family, even our kids were smiling. But now, Touka is dead._ _  
_Yoriko Kosaka was face down on her dining room table, completely still. She'd already cried out all her tears, so all she felt like doing was lying on the table, doing nothing. Arata and Ryouko had long since gone to their rooms, having been taken home early from their daycare. Yoriko sighed into the puddle of tears she'd made on the table. She tried to come up with reasons why Touka would have been killed, especially the way she had been killed, but Yoriko had nothing. What did Touka do wrong? Sure, she was a ghoul, but problems like those had long since boiled over. All Touka did was live a happy life, and that's not a crime. Touka just wanted happiness, for herself and Yoriko and Arata and Ryouko. However, earlier that day, Nishiki had arrived with a solemn look and told Yoriko that Touka had been found savagely ripped apart under a bridge.  
Why did this have to happen? Yoriko asked herself for the millionth time that day. Just then, Arata waddled out of his room. He was only three years old, and his mother had died. Now all he had was his mama, who didn't even know how to raise him anymore because she was a human and Arata was a half ghoul. Arata grabbed Yoriko's leg and pulled himself up onto her lap.  
"Where's Ryouko?" Yoriko paranoidly asked into the table. Arata hugged his mama tightly. "Room. Sleeping. Cried lots. Too tired to cry more," Arata began sniffling himself. He, too, had cried too much. But Arata was like his late mother, strong and resilient.  
"Is mother really dead?" Arata mumbled into Yoriko's arm. She began crying into the table again.  
 _All I have left of Touka are Arata and Ryouko,_ Yoriko realized.

 **Rabbits For Dinner**

It had been half a year since Touka died. Yoriko was out shopping for rabbits to cook for her children. She had been glad that Arata and Ryouko didn't have to eat humans to survive and could live off of rabbits, but that seemed to change as they grew. Rabbits no longer sustained them very well, and sometimes made them a bit sick. Yoriko was confused. She had no idea how to raise half ghouls. Yoriko could contact Touka's ghoul friends, but ghouls were different than half ghouls and the only half ghoul she knew was gone now. If only Touka were here, Yoriko wished. She still hadn't figured out who had killed Touka that day. Ryouko was getting angry about it too, and kept trying to bite any human she saw. It was the only way the toddler could release the stress of losing her mother. All Yoriko could do about it was cook rabbits for her kids and hope they settled down. Suddenly, as she was aimlessly walking through the supermarket, Yoriko bumped into somebody. She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly apologized.  
"I'm sorry!" Yoriko exclaimed, helping the man pick up his groceries. He shook his head.  
"It's not a problem," he replied and walked away. Yoriko continued on to the meat aisle and got the rabbit she needed. Yoriko crossed her fingers it wouldn't make her kids throw up. At first, Yoriko had thought the meeting with the man would be a one time thing. But Yoriko kept seeing him at the supermarket. Eventually, Yoriko decided she'd seen him enough times to ask his name. She looked a little awkward, her arms stacked high with rabbits, but Yoriko managed.  
"Hey, I see you a lot here. I was wondering, what's your name?" Yoriko asked. The man seemed startled, but then calmed down and smiled.  
"My name is Takeomi. Can I ask yours, and also why you have a mountain of rabbit meat?" the man joked. Yoriko was caught by surprise, almost dropping the meat. She'd have to come up with an excuse; she couldn't tell a stranger that her children were half ghouls.  
"Um, uh, I'm Yoriko! And rabbits are my children's favorite food, so I make it a lot!" Yoriko exclaimed, a bit panicked. Takeomi smiled.  
"It's nice to see such a caring mother. But I only ever see you here. Does their father not shop ever?" Takeomi asked. Yoriko flinched.  
"Well, for starters, they don't have a father, they have another mother. And said mother passed away half a year ago," Yoriko explained angrily. She then realized her eyes were watering and she was about to cry. Takeomi looked shocked.  
"I'm sorry for your loss, and sorry for assuming things. If you don't mind, I'd like to apologize by treating you to a coffee. You look like you need someone to talk to," Takeomi apologized. It was then Yoriko's turn to be astonished, seeing as a stranger invited her to coffee. Surprisingly, Yoriko obliged. The following day, she and Takeomi went out for coffee. Yoriko enjoyed chatting with him, and so they planned to meet again. And again. And again. Yoriko and Takeomi had grown close.

 **I'll Tell It To You Over Coffee**

It had been exactly a year since Touka died, and six months after Yoriko started talking with Takeomi. They'd become good friends, and Yoriko even agreed to meet up with him after she and her kids went to visit Touka's grave. Yoriko sat down at the small wooden table in the coffee shop, and Takeomi soon pulled up a seat right across from her.  
"I'm very sorry for your loss," Takeomi began solemnly. Yoriko looked down at the table.  
"Would you like to tell me a bit about her?" Takeomi suggested. Their meetings had usually consisted of Yoriko talking and talking to Takeomi about things she was going through. Takeomi almost felt like a therapist, just with no advice to give and way too many feelings for his client. Takeomi knew he would look like a jerk if he told Yoriko he liked her, but he really couldn't deny it. So he just sat silently and listened to Yoriko talk about Touka. She talked about how strong Touka was, how calm she was when Arata or Ryouko fussed, how happy she was when playing with Arata and Ryouko, how crap of a cook she was but the fact that she tried her best, all the good memories. Halfway through, Yoriko started crying and mumbled to herself, "I miss you, Touka Kirishima!" which was a really bad idea because Takeomi recognized that name. He set down his coffee.  
"Did you say Touka Kirishima?" Takeomi asked grimly. Yoriko wiped her tears and looked up, confused by his attitude change.  
"Yes, that was her name," Yoriko quietly affirmed. Takeomi's eyes widened.  
"Are you kidding me?" he remarked, his attitude turning darker. It was almost as if Takeomi began to look down on Yoriko. Yoriko was very confused.  
"What do you mean?" Yoriko asked. Takeomi clicked his tongue.  
"So this whole time I've been talking to the poor girlfriend of the piece of trash I exterminated a year ago?" Takeomi commented, almost laughing. Yoriko's eyes widened.  
"Ha, to think I started to like you! What a let down, you're a trash lover!" Takeomi laughed maniacally at his comment.  
"What do you mean?!" Yoriko exclaimed. Takeomi looked at her straight in the eyes.  
"Exactly one year ago, I was sent out on a mission to kill a ghoul. I mean, I'm a ghoul investigator, it's what I do. When I'd killed her, it turned out she was Touka Kirishima, a ghoul trying to live a normal life. Gross, right?! How could a monster try to fit in?! It made me so angry, I ripped her to shreds!" Takeomi yelled at Yoriko, got up in her face. Yoriko was shaking.  
"You killed Touka?" Yoriko asked almost silently. Takeomi sighed and nodded.  
"Sorry, I just got a little bit angry. I'm usually not that wild. But yes, she had blue hair and an ukaku, right?" Takeomi settled down and sat back into his chair. Yoriko nodded. His description definitely matched Touka.  
"You say ghouls are the monsters, but you're the monster. Touka didn't do anything wrong! Is it illegal for her to be happy?!" Yoriko yelled at Takeomi. He furrowed his eyebrows.  
"She killed innocent people. Remember the ghoul by the name of the Rabbit? That's her. She killed one of my coworkers! She killed an innocent life!" Takeomi rebutted. Yoriko knew that. She remembered how shaken Touka had been when she confessed this fact to Yoriko. Touka had felt bad, unlike the investigator, and this infuriated Yoriko.  
"Innocent life?! Your teammate was going to kill an innocent little girl! Sure, she was a ghoul, but she's still innocent! That's the only reason Touka killed your friend, and she hasn't killed anyone since then! She was more innocent- when you killed her, she was raising two infants! Your investigator friend's kid was already grown up!" Yoriko yelled at Takeomi, sniffling. Takeomi shook his head.  
"Why would you put human infants through the crap of having a ghoul mother?" Takeomi asked, completely disregarding the important part of Yoriko's counterargument.  
"That's all you care about?" Yoriko asked meekly. She held her tongue, because she knew she'd end up revealing Arata and Ryouko's half ghoul status. The last thing Yoriko needed was Takeomi killing her children too.  
"All ghouls are monsters. That's that," Takeomi stated calmly. Yoriko had that mentality when she was younger. However, she learned how beautiful ghouls could be, how amazing Touka was. She had to kick that mentality out of Takeomi's head. Yoriko had reached her boiling point.  
"Ah!" Takeomi yelped. He gripped his cheek, and stared at Yoriko's hand. It was still in the air, from when she'd suddeny slapped him. Yoriko was seething with anger.  
"I can't be friends with anyone who would call Touka a monster, let alone kill her. I'm disappointed, Takeomi. It didn't have to be this way," Yoriko sternly clarified. However, her voice was slightly shaky, and her eyes watered. She got up, got her things, and returned home quickly. Takeomi stared at her the whole time, shocked by what just happened. When Yoriko got home, she cried for the umpteenth time since the day Touka died. No, since the day Touka was murdered by Takeomi. _It didn't have to be this way,_ Yoriko thought.


End file.
